Garbage truck catches fire on I-45

Matt Stephens

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Photo: Eric S. Swist

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Garbage truck catches fire on I-45

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Billowing smoke could be seen for half a mile on Interstate 45 Wednesday afternoon, and an approaching driver might have thought it to be the scene of some horrific accident. Drivers were treated to an unusual site: firefighters sifting through cardboard boxes behind an empty, smoking garbage truck.

A Republic Services gargage truck caught fire on Interstate 45 near the FM 1488 overpass. Conroe Fire Department Lt. Matthew Perkins said the driver had visited the Demontrond Chrysler dealership and was heading south on Interstate 45 when he realized the truck was on fire.

The driver pulled over and attempted to extinguish it himself but realized the fire was too much and made a 9-1-1 call. Perkins said the Conroe Fire Department received a call at 1:18 p.m. They arrived on scene, as well as The Woodlands and Needham fire departments. No one was injured in the fire, which he estimated took about 15 minutes to extinguish

At one point, three of the four lanes of southbound traffic were closed, forcing bumper-to-bumper traffic for more than a mile. However, as the scene was cleared, lanes were opened, Perkins said, and it was cleared out by 2:50 p.m. The truck did not have any serious damage, and the driver drove it from the scene.

Although the cause of the fire is unknown, Perkins said it is not under investigation.

“Garbage trucks do catch on fire,” he said. “I’ve seen it once or twice before.”

Stuart Norman, with the Needham Fire Department, said he believes the intense heat could have caused the trash to catch fire “in the right conditions.” Temperatures reached as high as 98 degrees Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Peg Mulloy, manager of media relations for Republic Services, said it has been over a year since she has heard of a garbage truck catching fire, and it takes more than heat for it to happen.

“We’re in Phoenix, and it gets pretty hot here,” she said. “It depends on what people put in their trash. Someone must have put something hot in their garbage.”

Pool chemicals, fireplace embers and batteries are a few things she mentioned as potential fire starters. Whenever a truck catches fire, she said drivers are instructed to find a safe place to pull over and dump the load, not only to protect the surroundings but to protect the trucks, which can cost $500,000.

If the driver had just started a route, then the driver could go back and speak to residents and business owners about what not to place in their garbage.

“They need to just be cautious about what people put in their trash,” Malloy said.

Perkins said the truck was full of cardboard boxes, and he did not know of anything that could have caused the trash to catch flames.